Swimming Against the Current
by Nerdmom1701
Summary: A one shot on"Night of the Hunters" based on the time between Hiccup's rescue of Astrid and the time Astrid woke up in her bed.


Hiccup kicked at the door to her rooms, letting it slam against the wall on the other side.

Astrid's lifelessly still form was cradled in his arms as he walked into her quarters on the Edge, both of them soaking wet and dripping onto the floor. A sweep of Hiccup's gaze took in the living area, checking for anomalies but finding nothing out of the ordinary. Astrid's quarters were fairly spacious but relatively spartan, reflective of her style of décor. The large hearth in the centre of the room glowed softly with ebbing coals, wooden chairs with flat pillows on the seats around a small wooden table. A bowl that had the remains of what was no doubt her breakfast sat at one of the spots, a spoon beside it.

Seeing no danger, he wasted no time, taking five strides to the staircase and going up as fast as possible to the second floor loft. Another glance around showed nothing amiss so he went to her bed, pulling all the bedding off so he could lay her wet body onto the wooden slats. He propped her on her side for a few minutes, just in case there was still fluid in her lungs, then grabbed some large, absorbent cloths to put around her to keep her warm.

Hiccup sat on the edge of the bed for a moment shivering, suddenly aware of his own wet state. With another look at Astrid's still form, he reluctantly went back downstairs to find Toothless standing near the door, out of the maelstrom of wind and rain. He pulled Toothless's saddle off of him, setting it near the hearth and grabbed some wood from the pile nearby, adding it to the coals.

"We need some more heat in here, bud," he said quietly, pulling off his wet armour, top and belt as he headed upstairs once again. The small poof of a plasma blast and a whoosh from behind him let him know the fire was once more strong and hot, its heat going up the chimney and into the loft area to warm the bedroom.

His eyes automatically went over to Astrid as he got off the stairs. He placed his wet top across a chair back, shivering more violently as he grabbed another cloth and rubbed it against his bare chest and arms before rubbing his hair. His pants were still dripping slightly but he ignored it, walking over to the small chest beside the bed. Right at the bottom were an extra set of clothes he kept here, and he grabbed the top and put it on quickly.

While they had been 'dating' for almost a year now, they had tried to keep their relationship as discreet as possible, for everyone's sakes. If they hadn't, Hiccup was certain her father wouldn't have let her come to the Edge, regardless if she was an adult or not. Looking at her now, he was wondering if he had a point.

He sat on the edge of the bed again, turning her onto her back and gently stroking her cheek. The larger fire was heating up the loft, but her lips were still blue from the cold water and her hands were icy. He thanked Thor once again that the Edge was so far south from Berk's latitude; otherwise he was certain she wouldn't have survived as long as she had.

His lips thinned into a fine line. It had been so close. The imaginary rock that felt like it was sitting on his chest since this morning was suffocating him every time he even thought about how close it was. As it was, his hands were caressing and rubbing her almost obsessively, partially to encourage blood flow, but mostly just to assure himself that her heart was still beating. He wanted to curl up beside her, and after a moment he did just that, lying on his side and pulling her closer to him. He spooned her right side, wrapping himself around her body, shivering again as he felt her body temperature.

The heat from the vent continued to pour out into the room, letting him know that Toothless was still adding his talents to the fire downstairs. The rain had washed away the worst of the seawater from her clothes and hair, but her temperature was still dangerously low and the heat was only barely keeping the hypothermia at bay. He pulled another blanket over them both and held her tighter.

He had almost lost it, out there on the back of his dragon, holding her in his arms. He had screamed her name in her face like a mad man, his world spiraling out of control until she opened her eyes.

She had said the smart-ass comment. She always did that, like she was trying to push him away, and he did it right back out of reflex but he wondered why. They always went for the teasing retort, and it was safer for them if they didn't want to be obvious in their affection, but he wondered if they were really fooling anyone.

All he knew was that he had gone against his instinct today and waited for her to return, more concerned with not letting his feelings be discovered than following his gut and going out to find her. He would never forgive himself for that.

He snuggled his face into the crook of her neck, breathing in the fresh scent that always seemed to follow her around, no matter what she was doing. He rubbed his hands up and down her arm, and then placed his hand under her damp shirt and splayed it on her stomach, rubbing small circles against her skin.

Gods he loved her. He couldn't live without her. Even now, he couldn't remember how to take a full breath – the tightness in his chest wouldn't allow it. They had been in tight scrapes before, but this had been the one that had terrified him the most. The jubilation over finding her had turned into panic when he saw her slip limply underneath the waves. He thought she had died.

She could still die. She was still freezing despite the room now being almost uncomfortably warm. How would he ever be able tell her family? And where was Stormfly when her rider was drowning in the sea? The anger and anxiety was building up inside him, despite his efforts to try and keep calm.

Stormfly would never leave her rider alone in the sea if she could help it. She was too much like her rider. With that in mind, he was worried about what Astrid would tell him if she woke up. _When_ she woke up, he thought with a fierce shake of his head. There was no other option he was willing to contemplate.

A strangled gasp had him lifting his head and staring at the floor, right into the large round eyes of Fishlegs, his head and shoulders poking through the hole that led to the main level. Fishlegs' hand covered his mouth in shock, and his eyes were trained on the blonde that had been the object of their quest.

Hiccup felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. He had been caught in a compromising position with Astrid, but strangely he felt more like crying with relief rather than dread. He had been afraid to leave her, even for an instant, but with Fishlegs here he didn't feel alone anymore. He could get out of the negativity of his own head and start thinking of a way to help her.

"Astrid" Legs breathed, staring at her disheveled appearance. "Hiccup, is she all right?"

"No, I found her in the water, holding on to a piece of driftwood. She is freezing and not waking up." He had made a decision in that instant to not move from where he was, though he did pull his hand from her stomach and let it rest on her drying top. "Legs, I need you to help me to think of something. I'm worried she was in the water too long and won't wake up. We need to get her warmer."

"Say no more. I think I have an idea that might work." Fishlegs's head disappeared into the floor, and he could hear him puttering his way around the main floor, putting his idea into action.

Hiccup sighed. He had known that Fishlegs would get back to the Edge first. Meatlug didn't have the range that the other dragons did, plus Fishlegs was their botanist and medicine specialist, so he frequently came back to prepare anything that he thought they might need. On top of that, the weather was disgusting, so it wouldn't of been a hard decision for him to come back and see if anyone had found her.

He was grateful that Fishlegs was here. He was the least gossipy of all of them, so he might be able to persuade him to let what he had just seen slide and concentrate on getting Astrid well. Either way, he was through with protecting his reputation, possibly at the cost of her life.

Reluctantly, he got up and tucked the blankets around he body where he had been lying. The room was roasting now, and he was starting to sweat. Astrid was still cold however so he went to look for another blanket in her linen chest to layer on top of the others. He had just put another blanket on top when Fishlegs poked through the entrance and handed him a pole that had a metal pan attached to it. He grabbed it out of reflex, and then watched as Fishlegs tossed some blankets through the hole before coming up the rest of the stairs to stand on the floor of the bedroom.

Without a word he grabbed the blankets off the floor and pulled the other blankets off her, only to replace them with the ones in his hands. After smoothing them down, he grabbed the pole out of Hiccup's hand and placed the pan at the end of the bed, well away from Astrid's feet.

"There," he said with some satisfaction, looking over his handiwork. "The pan has some coals from the fire downstairs. Toothless has it blazing so hot that Meatlug has cuddled into a corner and is already asleep. The blankets on Astrid I had on a line near the fire, so they got really warm before I brought them up. I think they may have caught on fire if I had left them much longer!" He smiled and looked at Astrid's face again. "Look! Her lips are already showing a bit of colour. I think she's finally starting to warm up. I'll make her a mead and tea infusion for when she wakes up to get her blood moving."

"Thank you, Fishlegs." Hiccup said, sincerely. "Your solution was better than mine… to … er, share my body heat." He cursed inwardly to himself. Although he had made a pledge to not deny his feelings anymore, he couldn't, in good conscience, pull Astrid into his pledge without her approval.

Life was still much harder for women in terms of guarding their reputation. While he had no doubt that Astrid could handle herself in any situation and any naysayers who tried to get in her way, he was very much aware that she had wanted to keep their relationship a secret, as much as possible anyway.

Fishlegs smirked. "Don't worry about it Hiccup. I'm sure you would of gotten around to thinking of this solution eventually."

Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"

"Oh nothing! Nothing at all!" Fishlegs's eyes grew wide and innocent, but Hiccup had seen that look too many times to be fooled by it. His stomach once more did a flip in his gut, but he was having a hard time being very upset.

"You know, don't you." He stated softly, the words low but matter-of-fact. " How I feel about her… you know, don't you?"

Fishlegs's expression turned from wide-eyed to soft and pleasant. "Of course I know. We all do. I would tell you a blind man could see it, but I must say you both do a good job of hiding it from those who don't know you really well. But as for the team, Stoick, and Gobber, well you aren't fooling any of us."

Hiccup groaned and let his head fall with a thud against the wall of the bedroom. "How long have you known?" he asked finally.

Fishlegs smirked. "How long have you been alive? Seriously, has there ever been a time you haven't had any feelings for her? I mean you don't moon over her or anything, so it's not pathetic or gross, but all of us know that Astrid is essentially taken – with the possible exception of Snotlout." He added as an afterthought.

"If it makes you feel any better, we think that she really likes you too. All of us have annoyed her at one point or another, but she only punches you in the arm occasionally. I've lost count of how many times Snotlout has lost consciousness because she's pounded him for being a pig. As for the rest of us – well, the guys don't think of her in that way anymore, and Ruffnut doesn't care, so I don't think you have to worry. Even 'Lout wouldn't say anything about you two, mostly because I don't think his pride could handle it, but also because deep down, I think he cares for the team and doesn't want things to change."

Hiccup sagged against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut as he considered everything Fishlegs had said.

As much as he wanted to openly declare his feelings for Astrid, there was a part of him that was holding back. It didn't bother him to talk to Fishlegs about it, or any member of the team really, but telling all of Berk was another story. Which reminded him…

"What about my father? Has he said anything?" A feeling close to panic rose in his throat at the very thought of Stoick knowing too much about him and Astrid. His father was a traditionalist for the most part, and he didn't know what he'd do if his father forbade him from being with her.

Fishlegs snorted. "Stoick the Vast likes Astrid more than the rest of us combined. He understands her, and her warrior outlook."

Both of their heads turned suddenly as Astrid started to shake violently, her eyes still closed but water foaming at her lips. Hiccup jumped and quickly turned her over onto her side and grabbed her chamber pot, just as water flew out of her mouth and her body curled up, ejecting what salt water had been left in her system.

After a moment her body went limp again and Hiccup's breathing stopped for a moment until he saw her chest rise and fall. He sat down heavily on the stool beside the bed and his head drooped in relief.

Fishlegs nodded and put his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "My mom used to treat the fishermen that were plucked out of the sea when they fell in. Apparently this is good news. Her body is trying to get rid of the seawater and raise her body temperature with the shivering. She'll probably wake up pretty soon."

Hiccup just nodded and stared down at Astrid, who was still shaking, though not as violently as before. In fact, if you didn't look closely, you might not have even noticed.

"Fishlegs," he said quietly, conscious of the fact that he was close to her ear. "Please make that drink you were mentioning for her for when she wakes up, and please ask the others to wait downstairs until I'm ready for them. I want to get her cleaned up and her face wiped off before anyone sees her. She'll kill us if she finds out we left her looking really bad."

'Legs huffed a laugh and nodded, letting go of Hiccup's shoulder and going down the stairs, leaving them both alone in the hot room.

Hiccup sagged with relief, his head falling limply into his hands as he sat beside her still form. He didn't know what to do to make her better, but he was pretty sure she was out of any real danger now. Her breathing was easier and her lips had almost completely turned pink again, but he wouldn't relax until she woke up and started to argue with him.

He wiped her face and lips to take off the last of the seawater, then quickly took his comb and adjusted her hair so it looked presentable. It wasn't perfect, but her braids were still tight and would keep her hair from getting too out of control until she could fix it herself.

He grasped her right hand and settled her on her back so she could sleep. His thumb rubbed the back of her hand, now blessedly warm, he thought with relief. She was whispering and mumbling something, her forehead wrinkling as the dream she was obviously having was playing out in her mind.

He reached over to her and gently kissed her on the forehead. Her hand dropped to her side as he straightened her blankets. "Wake up, Milady," he whispered. "We are waiting for you to tell us what happened."

He straightened up at the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and motioned to Ruff's worried face to come up the rest of the way and sit with him. Moments later, the rest of the team were with them, in varying degrees of dampness, waiting for Astrid to open her eyes.

Hiccup silently sighed to himself. He knew that he would have to have a discussion with Astrid when things settled down. From what Fishlegs had indicated, they hadn't been fooling anyone but themselves about their relationship, and this experience had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to skulk around and hide his regard for the best thing in his life. It was like trying to push against the tide; the current pushing the water as it was coming in to shore – a useless and exhausting waste of time.

He settled into his chair to wait.


End file.
